


Say Cheese?

by merrymercy



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on a Reylo prompt, Cheese, Employee!Ben, F/M, Freeform, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Short One Shot, Soft Ben Solo, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, based on a Twitter prompt, ben doesnt even know rey's name IMSOSORRY, this is so so short forgive me, yes i said cheese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26174452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrymercy/pseuds/merrymercy
Summary: Ben is on his evening shift at Whole Foods when he red-handedly catches Rey eating sample cheese. Funnily enough, he finds out he doesn't mind at all.short fic based onthis reylo promptretweeted by@reylo_prompts
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 11
Kudos: 51
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	Say Cheese?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prompt fill retweeted by [@reylo_prompts](https://twitter.com/reylo_prompts):
> 
> _''rey at a whole foods walking around calmly eating *all* the sample cheese as whole foods employee ben solo watches in smitten horror.''_
> 
> I didn't have anyone beta-read this, nor have I ever been to a Whole Foods or tasted these exquisite cheese, so bear with me if there's a mistake. Hope you enjoy it, Violet!

It's an uneventful evening.

In fact, _too_ uneventful for Ben's liking.

He can hear the low humming of the refrigerators, footsteps of his coworkers, and the painful screech of a cart's wheel from where he was sitting at the register. 

Yeah, something was _off_.

It's a Friday, for one. On a normal day, the store would be crammed up with bickering couples, crying kids and grumpy housewives who demanded a refund by now. 

So, understandably, Ben was _horrified._ It was never this silent on a Friday. _Never on a Friday._

He looks around— there's nobody in sight. _It's about time we close anyway_ , he says to himself as he stands up, all the while knowing he'd get a long-ass lecturing when his boss finds out he left the cash desk unattended. 

_Whatever_. Ben could worry about the consequences later. Right now, much to his surprise, he was bored out of his mind in this eerie silence, and he'd be _damned_ if he didn't do something about it.

Their store wasn't any bigger than the other Whole Foods around, but he very strangely passed by _at least_ five racks of greens until he saw a sign of life. And it wasn't even one of his co-workers.

There stood a girl beside the sample stands in baggy sweatpants and a long, white shirt that he swore was at least three times her size. She was definitely unaware of his presence as she took a sample from a stand beside her, lifted it to her mouth and started to chew the–

_Cheese?_

He must've said that out loud, because the next thing he knows, she freezes in her tracks– cheese in her mouth, a faltering smile on her lips and eyes wide like saucers as she realizes she's been caught.

He could get angry at her. He _should_ get angry at her. Hell– there'd be no samples left in the store for other customers if one crazy girl in her twenties came by to eat them all. But, lucky for her, it was the end of the day, and the cheese be damned because _holy shit_ , she was beautiful.

They spend a moment observing each other– the girl obviously scared of what the six-foot-tall, very intimidating Whole Foods employee would do; and Ben in awe of– well, _her_ in general. 

He wanted to get back to the desk–just away from her– because he felt his mind short-circuit in this stranger's presence. Maybe it was social anxiety? He didn't really look people in the eye. Maybe that was what stressed him out. Maybe. Or it was just _her_.

But.

He was still on his shift, and _excuse you,_ he was a _very_ responsible whole foods employee. So he walked up to the cheese stand, put his hand to the plough, and started a much-needed conversation. "Uh, how may I help you?" 

"Well, uh," Her mouth too full to speak, she abashedly started to chew the remainder of the cheese in her mouth before she answered. "I wanted to try... cheese." 

_God,_ she was adorable. Ben made a mental note to let her take all the cheese samples by the end of his shift.

"Do you have any preference? Brie? Swiss? Gouda?"

"Nope." She worked her mouth as she thought for a moment. "I'm not picky. I'd eat any cheese."

Considering her, he opened one of the many drawers at the bottom to take out something he thought she'd like. 

"Goat cheese?"

"Yeah, chèvre–" _Hold up_. She distinguished goat cheese. _Goat cheese_. Hell, it could've been _any_ white cheese. He'd been working at whole foods for _months_ , and even _he_ couldn't distinguish a cheese unless he tasted it. "–how'd you know that?"

She blushes at that. "I just like cheese." 

Could people distinguish white cheese? What kind of madness was that? Though, come to think about it, maybe it was just his weak-sighted eyes, kaput. Or maybe this girl _really_ was mad in love with cheese.

He took out the cheese from its clear plastic case and started chopping them the size of a hors d'œuvre. _So you really like cheese._

"Pardon?"

God, he _needed_ to stop voicing his thoughts out loud.

"I mean– would you like to try feta?" At that, her face lights up– and she needn't say more. Not waiting for an answer, he takes out the crumbly aged cheese from the top drawer, and starts cutting both cheeses in small squares. However he, much to his dismay, fails at the task, and all of them end up looking like trapezoids. _Disgraceful._

She doesn't seem to mind though, because, with every sample she tastes, her face gets brighter and brighter as Ben wonders how the hell trapezoid-shaped cheese could make someone so _happy_.

They go on like this; Ben cutting little samples, and her eating it without questioning why he's cutting _all_ the cheese available for her. Ben has no idea himself, though he's sure it's her smile that makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

It'd probably be the last straw for his boss to fire him– _because of cheese of all things, who would've known?_ \- but he can't bring himself to care about it when he looks at the stranger's blinding smile, all because of ill-shaped cheese. _Because of him._

That night, he walks home without a job, but with a fond memory of sample cheese and of a dazzling smile.


End file.
